Section 18.31.300. Employee health.

	(a)  The operator of a food establishment shall take all reasonable precautions to ensure that each employee with an infected wound or a disease communicable by food is not working in a food establishment in any capacity that might contaminate food or a food-contact surface.   
	(b)  The operator of a food establishment shall ensure that   
		(1) each applicant to whom a conditional offer of employment is made and each employee reports each of the following conditions to the operator, including the date of onset, as it relates to diseases that are transmissible through food, if the employee or applicant has, or is diagnosed with, that condition:  
			(A) vomiting;  
			(B) diarrhea;  
			(C) jaundice;  
			(D) sore throat with fever;  
			(E) a lesion containing pus, such as a boil or infected wound, that is opening and draining and is   
				(i) on the hands or wrists, unless an impermeable cover such as a finger cot or stall, protects the lesion and a single-use glove is worn over the impermeable cover;   
				(ii) on exposed portions of the arms, unless the lesion is protected by an impermeable cover; or  
				(iii) on other parts of the body, unless the lesion is covered by a dry, durable, tight-fitting bandage;   
			(F) Salmonella Typhi, within the previous three months, without the individual having received antibiotic therapy;   
			(G) Shigella spp.;   
			(H) Enterohemorrhagic or Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli;   
			(I) hepatitis A virus;  
			(J) Norovirus;  
		(2) an employee or applicant who is experiencing a symptom of a disease transmissible by food as described in (1)(A) - (E) of this subsection is either excluded or restricted as listed in Table E of this section; and   
                                   TABLE E
EXCLUSION OR RESTRICTION REQUIREMENTS FOR SYMPTOMATIC EMPLOYEES OR APPLICANTS
  Symptom    Exclusion or  Restriction Removing ExclusionDepartment of
                                        or Restriction*  Environmental
                                                         Conservation
                                                         Approval Needed to
                                                         Work?
            EstablishmentsAll Other Es-
               Serving    tablishments
            Highly
            Susceptible
            Population
Vomiting    Exclude      Exclude      When the excluded
                                      employee has been
                                      asymptomatic for
                                      at least 24 hours. No
Diarrhea    Exclude      Exclude      When the excluded
                                      employee has been
                                      asymptomatic for
                                      at least 24 hours. No
Jaundice    Exclude if
            the onset
            occurred
            within the
            last seven
            days         Exclude if
                         the onset
                         occurred
                         within the
                         last seven
                         days         When approval is
                                      obtained from the
                                      Department of
                                      Health and Social
                                      Services.          Yes, unless medical
                                                         documentation is
                                                         provided to the
                                                         operator.
Sore Throat
with Fever  Exclude      Restrict     When the employee
                                      provides written
                                      medical
                                      documentation to
                                      the operator.      No
Lesion
Containing
Pus         Restrict     Restrict     When the infected
                                      wound or boil is
                                      properly covered.  No
* An exclusion or restriction may be removed for any symptom if the excluded
or restricted employee provides medical documentation to the operator that
the condition is from a non-infectious condition and that the risk of
transmitting a pathogenic microorganism is minimal.
		(3) in addition to the requirements of (a) of this section, the operator contacts the department, verbally or electronically, within 24 hours after being notified that an employee or applicant has been diagnosed by a health practitioner as having a disease as described in (1)(F) - (J) of this subsection or is jaundiced; each notification must provide the date, name of the diagnosed disease, and the name and contact information of the food establishment reporting the diagnosed disease.  
	(c)  In this section, "restrict" or "restriction" means to limit the activities of an employee so that there is no risk of transmitting a disease that is transmissible through food and the employee does not work with exposed food, clean food-contact surfaces, linens, or unwrapped single-service of single-use articles.  

Authorities

17.20.005;17.20.020;17.20.070;17.20.072;17.20.180;17.20.200;17.20.290;44.46.020;03.05;17.20

Notes

Reference

18 AAC 31.228
18 AAC 31.330
18 AAC 31.900
18 AAC 31.907
18 AAC 31.990

Authority

AS 17.20.005 AS 17.20.020 AS 17.20.070 AS 17.20.072 AS 17.20.180 AS 17.20.200 AS 17.20.290 AS 44.46.020 Editor's note: Effective 12/19/99, Register 152, the Department of Environmental Conservation readopted 18 AAC 31.300, without change, to affirm the validity of that section following statutory amendments made in ch. 72, SLA 1998. Chapter 72, SLA 1998 relocated department authority to adopt regulations in 18 AAC 31 from AS 03.05 to AS 17.20. Operators may contact the department by calling any department office location or by calling [phone] or, outside the Municipality of Anchorage, 87-SAFEFOOD ([phone]), or by facsimile: [phone].

History

Eff. 5/18/97, Register 142; readopt 12/19/99, Register 152; am 6/28/2001, Register 158; am 12/28/2006, Register 180

References

18.31.300;18.31